Question about mSata/SSD power consumption .

1. Everything on a platter HDD
2. Main Stuff/OS on a mSata + all media files (MP3s, ect) on a HDD


My question is that will combination 2 use less power when listening to music compared to 1 ? I don't really know how HDD works but does the task of just playing music still use the HDD tot he same amount of I had all my stuff on it ?

 

With more components; power usage goes up.

While you may see small differences in specific workflows - you can't cheat basic laws.


Also, keep in mind that not all SSD's (in all workloads) are better than the HDD you have now - with regards to power usage...

 

I see . So on average a SSD + Storage HDD will use the same energy as a HDD standalone ?

 

No; you missed the point.

 

Listening to music has little to do with HDD or SSD. It will load the file to RAM in a split second and the
drive is no longer used.

Sent from my YP-G70 using Tapatalk 2

 

Even if the file is loaded from an SD card it will still use (extra) power specifically for that storage device...

Not debating if music taxes the storage subsystem - rather, the question is whether there is a difference (wrt power usage) when using HDD or HDD + SSD... when the music files are still on the HDD in either scenario...

 

I'm not really getting it, so your saying if I had just the HDD, it would use less power then the mSata + HDD ?

 

Exactly.

One device will always use less power than that same device plus another one...

 

Right, so follow up question . Are HDD still consuming power when not in use ? Let's say I put all my stuff on an mSata and wipe the HDD, does it still draw power or enough power to be significant .

If yes, is there any way to shut off a HDD par from physically removing it .

 

No. This is one of the reasons HDDs are slower than SSDs. They power down when not used for a certain amount of time. So when you access them, they need time to power up and spin up to speed before the needle can start decoding data. You can actually test this in a quiet room. If you are not accessing the HDD at all for several minutes and then go to "My Computer", you will hear your HDD start up.

That being said, the amount of power you are going to use with a SSD + HDD combination as opposed to just the HDD combination is not a whole lot and definitely not much compared to the rest of the components on your system combined which need to be on when listening to music all the way from your CPU to the audio card. You are looking at a few minutes of extra battery time at most. Probably under 10.

 

I see, that's the part that interest me, the powering down of the HDD, that's why I ask is there a way to prevent the HDD from even spinning up when I'm not using it and just using OS/browse from an mSata . I was planning on just doing basic note-taking and browse-ring (which could all be put on just the mSata) and use the HDD when I plug in .

 

The engineers have already taken all that into account--hence the various energy ratings. There's no need for you to do anything at this point except use your device. That is, unless you want to become an engineer?

 

Even if the HDD's platter is powered down (when the system is in 'sleep' but not hibernate mode) - the electronics are still using power. It does not shut down completely (Windows would probably blue screen).

No; no way to prevent the HDD getting power unless physically unplugged or disabled in BIOS (not many systems would support this 'feature', I'm sure).


And I think you're still ignoring/not taking into consideration the part where I state that not many SSD's have better power characteristics than the HDD's they're replacing or augmenting...

Even if you didn't use the HDD at all; but left it plugged in (even in an uninitialized state) and used an 'average' SSD instead; you would still be using more power overall.

The SSD I have seen a huge increase in battery run time from is the Intel 320 160GB model.


And the tips from the link here:

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449726-u30jc-discussion-thread-210.html#post8031036


(Note; that the extra battery life from the 5% maximum processor 'tweak' in the linked thread is more than almost any SSD will give you).


Hope some of this helps.

 

The secondary HDD won't shut down completely during normal usage, but Windows would probably be fine even if it did thanks to SATA hot swap.

 

Windows is not going to BSOD unless it does not have access to primary system files which are all located on the master drive.

That being said, it is true that the hard drive does not completely power down. The controller still needs to keep in contact with it through the SATA port so it can wake the drive up as soon as Windows tells it to. The idle power consumption of a hard disk is under a watt. The idle power consumption of a laptop SSD is a bit lower than the numbers for the HDD. You are looking at a few hundred milliwatts. Under load, a SSD's power consumption is between 3-4 watts depending on the SSD. I couldn't find a good review that supports those numbers but a google search will give you the general idea of a SSDs power consumption under load. Here is are the numbers for a HDD under load.

Finally, Tiller it is you who are ignoring my comments. The amount of power you would consume with a HDD only set up (under load or idle) vs the amount of power you would consume with a SSD + HDD set up (again, under load or otherwise) is not going to give you more than a 10-20 extra minutes of battery life. This is assuming you are constantly moving files back and forth from the SSD to the HDD. We are talking about sub 8 watt numbers here. This is a fact you confirmed yourself by stating that simply tweaking the CPU will give you more battery life than any SSD can provide. Anyways, I'm not interested in getting into a flame war with you. I have numbers to show for what I say - A SSD + HDD combination of the kind you speak of, OP, and using it for the tasks you speak of will not give you a noticeable battery drain unless you are able to distinguish between and are affected by using your laptop for ten fewer minutes when you have already used it for a couple of hours.

 

maverick1989,

I was not referring to you when I said 'ignoring/not taking into consideration' - I was talking to the OP.

I also did not put a number on the power (or time) that would be lost/saved between different configurations - because it is highly dependent on the HDD and the SSD and the specific workload that the OP puts on it.


Otherwise; I agree with what you have posted for the most part - a few minutes less or a few minutes more is nothing to worry too much about. That is why I (indirectly) linked to that power saving post - it gives much more substantial power savings than the storage subsystem options could ever give in 'normal' usage.


No flame war: we're good!

 

So much information, but I got my answers .

Thanks everyone .